Raw Foods Diet & Raw Food Weight Loss Blog

Jim here… Today Wendi is busy preparing for a multi-day activity that I’m sure she’ll be writing about later this week. So, I thought I’d field a question we received recently (one directed specifically to me). We do receive a good deal of questions at our Raw Food Diet Question In-box (at Questions [at] PureJeevan.com), so feel free to send any in that you may have, and we’ll definitely get to them all here in time. In any case, one reader writes:

As drawn as I am to a raw diet, being mostly cooked vegan right now, I can’t help but come up against this each time: Since produce is, after all, mostly water, what did you eat while transitioning that didn’t lead to shoving in lots of bread, potatoes, etc.? Do you just eat lots and lots of, say, oranges, at one go? This has always been my raw downfall. I’m sure the answer is very simple.

Wow, this is a great question, and one with many possible answers! To begin, let’s recognize that this isn’t a question from a “SAD diet” eater.  Being a vegan, alone, takes significant learning and (often) self-discipline to accomplish successfully. It’s also, in my view, an excellent dietary and lifestyle choice for many people, regardless of whether they ever decide to try a raw foods diet. So, this question is rather advanced.

The short answer, for me, was fruit, fruit, fruit!  But, let me offer a fuller and more general answer for everyone. I think there are a few ways to interpret everything, but the main message I’m receiving is an underlying concern about getting enough calories. I agree that produce is packed with water but, from there, my answer can go a few different ways (or may touch on all of these):

1. Are you concerned about calories? I share your concern here, especially as you’ve singled out produce as your primary source of calories (omitting mentions of fats / proteins). I’m sure you directed your question to me because I tend to talk about my own ambitions with respect to low fat raw veganism. I’ll tell you this:  I adore the taste of nuts and other raw fats. But, personally, they just weigh me down and I usually feel less than peak when I over-indulge in them (and, that usually reflects just a small amount of nuts). So, there are often long stretches in which I avoid them and, during those times, I sometimes wonder whether I’m getting enough calories. But, I’ve been experimenting for years with various combinations of foods that do make me feel as though I’m operating closer to that peak level. For me, it involves a lot of fruit and a lot of greens. And, the more you look into the caloric content of fruit, the less you may worry about caloric needs. (I had one smoothie recipe I used to make a lot that clocked in at around 1,000 calories!) But, this is also a complex issue because caloric and nutritional needs/goals differ greatly from person to person.

2. Are you feeling unsatisfied by the raw foods? If this is the case, it could be for a variety of reasons, both physical and emotional. On the physical side, one suggestion would be to try some richer raw foods — things like nuts, seeds, oils, and protein powders (or, if you’re not going for 100% raw, then try some beans, perhaps) . But, if the nuts and seeds don’t appeal to you (and, I’m not recommending that you over-do it on these things), don’t overlook the fruit fats like avocados and Thai coconuts (young coconuts). Still, this issue could be complicated by individual physical reactions to raw foods. For example, Wendi has had a tough time with some raw foods because of her Lyme disease. Or, there’s a possibility that your body is not in the proper state of balance to benefit from the type of diet that you may want to exist under. (That, alone, can be a difficult thing to determine and/or to reconcile.) Another possibility could be the interaction of the particular raw and cooked vegan foods you’re eating. For example, white sugar and flour are both vegan but are both quite capable of making a person feel awful and, in turn, unable to follow a more healthy diet the rest of the time. And then there are emotional aspects of all this, such as…

3. Are you still craving bread and potatoes? Here’s the long answer, via a tangential story:  You know, vegans often cite the opiates in dairy, but I personally kicked that craving ages ago. For me, I always feared dairy, to be truthful. I was always overweight and thought that eating too much cheese might give me a heart attack. So, that particular opiate never affected me much. But, when it came to wheat and breads… To be honest, I still want them. I look at a bagel and, to this day, think: Man, I bet that would taste amazing. But, I haven’t had any bread since probably sometime in 2007, as I came to understand it as unhealthy for me. A few times, I came pretty close to trying it again, but I just feel that, for me, it would be too slippery of a slope. (So, no bread! I don’t want to weigh almost 240 pounds again!) But, as for potatoes… Those are actually one thing that I’ve returned to in a limited way.  I went without them, of course, during my two full years as a 100% raw vegan, and largely without them before and since. But, when I backed my “rawness” down to 80% or so, I came to view potatoes as not so awful for me — and that’s even in light of things I’ve read in great books like Rainbow Green Live Cuisine (citing studies that indicate an elevated glycemic load for cooked potatoes). But, I’ve been very conscious about moderating this sort of thing — and report no ill effects to date as a result.

So, as you can see, even though my personal answer was “fruit, fruit, fruit, ” the general answer to this question is almost too complicated to fully address here on the blog. But, yes, you could try upping your fruit intake, including some fats and proteins, and maybe even some healthier cooked foods (e.g., some beans or grains) for part of your diet to help address feelings of hunger. Another ally in the raw food world, especially useful during transitioning, are the packaged raw snacks that are increasingly available (such as those at, you guessed it, http://tinyurl.com/NaturalZing)! While transitioning to raw, I regularly enjoyed things like Gopal’s Power Wraps and various raw bars.

For many people, a change in diet is largely a mental issue. You *decide* that you’re going to do something different, and then commit to it. You may shop a little differently than before, but quite often that is the extent of any action taken (other than preparing and eating the new foods rather than the old ones). For many, the commitment aspect is the trickiest part.  Books could be written on this subject alone (and we’re sure we’ve discussed this at length here on the blog).

Today we want to share a super-easy tip to help with the commitment side of this:  Keep your fruits and vegetables VISIBLE.

Now, what does that mean?  Well, we hope you’ll bring some creativity to this.  It might mean putting a fruit bowl out on your table as a centerpiece.  Or, it could mean coming up with a better way to organize your refrigerator. (Just think of how much produce goes to waste simply because it’s tucked away in some drawer or in the back of some lower shelf!) At the same time, take any less healthy foods that you have and relegate them to a less important visual position in your kitchen.

Keeping your healthy foods visible will not only remind you to eat well, but will actually proactively help you tap into your intuitive nature.  When you see something that you love that is healthy for you, you will desire it — and that’s a good habit to get yourself into.

At a recent raw food meetup, I was surprised that so many raw foodies aren’t aware of the raw almond controversy. Maybe most of our Pure Jeevan family members aren’t aware of the fact that most almonds are not raw. It’s sad, but very true. In 2006 a mandatory almond pasteurization ruling was created. The rule was passed sometime in 2007, I believe, and since then it’s been near impossible to purchase truly raw almonds. Maybe pasteurized almonds don’t seem like a big deal to most people.

Raw almonds are alive, yet dormant until they are soaked. Once soaked (or moistened in the springtime rains when outdoors), they sprout to begin growing into almond trees. Once soaked and sprouted, the nutritional content of the nuts change significantly. They are alive and filled with protein and so much more!

When foods are pasteurized, they are treated in one way or another that eliminates the possibility of molds or bacteria forming on the foods. However, the treatment also renders the foods dead. I don’t know about you, but I’m not into eating dead things. Life comes from life!

I’m passionate about the raw food diet, as most of you already know. So, when I heard about the mandatory almond pasteurization ruling, I was extremely upset. I felt helpless and needed to find a way to let others know that they would be eliminating a nutritious food from my diet (and the diets of many others, as well) if they killed the almonds with the pasteurization process. I figured those making the rule probably didn’t realize that the almonds would change in a way that wasn’t healthy for the human body. So, I sent out many letters, trying to educate others about the precious little almonds. Here are some old Going Raw Journal posts I made at that time about the ruling.

• Here’s a post I wrote at the beginning of my raw journey. It’s about the outrageous price of organic raw almonds and why they were so expensive for a long time.
   
• In this old Going Raw Journal post, I announced the mandatory almond pasteurization and individuals to contact about the ridiculous ruling.

I sent out hundreds of emails about the ruling, hoping to bring attention to the harm that was being done to the almonds (and essentially our health).

• Here, I share a very strange dream I had about the almonds, and my frustration after talking with the chairman of the almond board.
   
• After repeated discussions about the almond pasteurization with the chairman of the almond board, I was saddened to hear that he felt helpless, as well, about the ruling. I wrote a bit about my thoughts on freedom and breaking free from the bonds we, as a society, have created for ourselves.

The sad news is that even with so many other people out there speaking up for the raw almonds, the ruling was passed. It’s now nearly impossible to purchase truly raw almonds. Many sellers label their almonds as raw, but in all of my testing 99% of those almonds are not truly raw. I’ve even contacted some very big name raw food suppliers to ask about (and purchase) their almonds, only to find that their almonds aren’t raw, either.

Here’s a simple test you can do to determine whether your almonds are truly raw, or not. I learned this from the lovely Rhio, of RawFoodInfo.com last year. At first it brought hope to my life, because I could then test and begin eating raw almonds again. However, it was at that point that I realized truly raw almonds are nearly impossible to find.

RAW ALMOND TEST

• Place one cup of almonds into a bowl
• Cover almonds with water and let sit for 12 hours
• In the morning, drain and rinse the almonds
• Squeeze the almond to see if you can remove the almond from the skin.
• If the skin can be removed by the skin kind of sliding off the almond, the almonds have been pasteurized in some way. The easier the skin removes, the more treatments the almonds received.
• If you have to use your fingers to peel the skin off the almonds, piece by piece, then the almonds have not been pasteurized.

When Rhio told me about this test, I knew it was accurate. I remembered years prior to the almond ruling how it was a difficult job to soak and peel almonds in order to create beautiful white almond milk and almond sour cream. My fingers would feel sore after painstakingly using my fingernails to help me remove the skins of the almonds. The pasteurized ones peeled as quickly as ones that have been blanched in boiling water.

Maybe you’re still wondering what the big deal is? Well, I’d like to repeat what I wrote earlier: Life comes from LIFE. If an almond can’t sprout, they aren’t alive. None of the pasteurized almonds that I’ve sampled have been able to sprout. They are DEAD. Our bodies thrive on living foods, not dead foods. It IS a big deal to those of us in the raw and living foods community. If others understood the importance of living foods, they’d understand how big a deal this is, as well.

So, there you have it. Go ahead and test your “RAW” almonds and report back on what you’ve discovered. If you haven’t sourced the almonds directly from a trusted almond grower, you’re most likely going to be disappointed in what you find after doing the test.

Last night I dreamed of meandering through an unfamiliar cityscape, following some lonely sidewalk next to a river at night, feeling particularly sad and miserable beneath dim yellow street lights. I wore a black suit, carried a highball glass, and was absolutely drunk!

Having crossed the river, I soon realized (even in my dream-drunken state) that I’d been wandering aimlessly. Feeling rather pathetic, I decided to walk back across the river and sober up in a casino that I knew was there. Drunk and depressed, I figured I’d just sit in front of a slot machine for a few hours. 

There was more to it — the highlight being my arrest after scaling a drawbridge — but the most interesting thing to me about this dream was my inebriation; I really felt drunk — and, not in a pleasant way, either! (Fortunately for me, a dream of being drunk was not followed by a real-world hangover.)

Isn’t it amazing how the body can store not only memories, but also entire states of consciousness?! Upon waking, I got to thinking: Why in the world would I dream of being drunk?  I wasn’t sure. But, then I remembered what triggered this…

This weekend, we threw a raw potluck Halloween party (and it was a super time!).  While prepping for the party, I cleaned off our front porch in order to make it look like a gypsy tent. Doing this, I found a grocery bag full of beer and champagne. It had been sitting there for more than a year, ever since I decided one day that I didn’t want to drink alcohol any longer.

I suppose you could say that this is another positive change that following a raw foods lifestyle brought about in me. Prior to really making that 100% commitment (even during my “high raw” years), I did drink occasionally — usually when guests who liked to drink visited. 

Mostly, over the past 4 years or so, I was an “occasional social” drinker, probably averaging a beer or two every 3-4 months. Prior to those years, I was largely the same, although I admittedly over-indulged many times as well — usually on special occasions. (And then there were “the college years” which, as many people can relate to, constituted a whole painfully irresponsible category unto themselves as far as alcohol consumption went.)

But it’s interesting to me that, after having had no alcohol whatsoever for more than a year, I found that old booze. I thought, “Why in the world am I even keeping this old crap on our porch?!”  (I’d planned to give it to a neighbor, but never did.) So, I went to toss it out. And I think this is the action that spurred that dream. You see, we recycle our cans and bottles, so I decided to open each one and pour it out before throwing the empties into our recycle bin.

The champagne bottle was fun. I shook it up really good and then popped the cork. My daughter got a kick out of seeing it fly.  Then I went over to a side spot in the yard and emptied all of the beer cans. They were old and shaken up, so each one exploded and foamed all over the place. I smelled like a brewery for a few minutes, but hosed everything off before getting back to work on prepping for the party.

I think that short exposure of smelling it and having all of that old beer froth over my hands stirred up something deep within, and caused that miserable dream. Fortunately, though, it reminded me that I should probably do a blog post about alcohol because, from time to time, people write in and ask about it.  “Do you drink it? Is it raw?”

*Do* We Drink It? *Is* It Raw?

And so finally we come to the “meat” of the post. Let me answer the second question first:  It depends on the alcohol. For most things (beers, distilled spirits, etc.), the answer is no. Wine, on the other hand, is generally considered raw, similar to any other fermented food like kimchi, miso, pickles, etc. However, with wine, the final product contains alcohol, which does have some toxic effects on the body.

In doing a bit of research, I came across a neat paper by University of Wisconsin-Madison Chemistry Professor Bassam Z. Shakhashiri on Ethanol (featured as his “Chemical of the Week” last February).  Prof. Shakhashiri writes:

Ethanol is toxic, and the body begins to dispose of it immediately upon its consumption. Over 90% of it is processed by the liver. In the liver, the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme converts ethanol into acetaldehyde, which is itself toxic.

He goes on to describe how alcohol affects the brain by what I perceive as a systematic removal of sorts: It begins by removing inhibitions (which we perceive as pleasant, and largely a reason that people drink in the first place). (One might argue that, when you’ve lived a raw lifestyle for some time, you automatically come more into alignment with your true self, which may rather naturally leads to the automatic disappearance of some of the inhibitions you may have felt in the past. Also, as you’re not pushing emotions down with food and or drink, you’re more used to dealing with things in real time, as your real self. In other words, you may no longer “need” a drink!) Anyway… Alcohol then continues this “taking-away” path, next removing thinking and cognitive skills, then motor skills, then speech faculties, and finally either lung or heart functionality (of course, very few push it that far in one session, although certainly many millions do overindulge regularly, which has its own set of bodily effects over time).

In the interest of objectivity, I want to note that I researched acetyldehyde a bit further, curious about its toxicity. It seemed odd to me that a toxic chemical was actually produced by the human body, even if it did come from the processing of ethanol. It turns out that there are actually quite a number of natural sources of this toxin. Here’s a quote from an Australian governmental publication on the matter:

Acetaldehyde has a widespread natural occurrence. Acetaldehyde occurs in nature as an intermediate product in the respiration of higher plants and can be found in ripening fruit such as apples. Also, acetaldehyde is an intermediate product of fermentation of alcohol and in metabolism of sugars in the body. It may form in wine and other alcoholic beverages after exposure to air. It naturally occurs as a result of forest fires, volcanoes, animal wastes, and insects. It is a volatile component of cotton leaves and blossoms. Acetaldehyde occurs in oak and tobacco leaves and is a natural component of apples, broccoli, coffee, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, mushrooms, onions, oranges, peaches, pears, pineapples, raspberries, and strawberries. It has been detected in the essential oils of alfalfa, rosemary, balm, clary sage, daffodil, bitter orange, camphor, angelica, fennel, mustard, and peppermint.

Whether there is a difference between the acetaldehyde produced by your liver as a result of processing alcohol and the acetaldehyde occurring within an apple or a bunch of broccoli (in terms of either amounts you’re exposed to and/or the toxicity of such), I cannot say with certainty. (But, it’s an interesting question.)  I suspect that the amounts found in naturally occurring sources are considerably smaller than what is produced by the human liver after a good bender. After all, acetaldehyde is commonly cited as the particular chemical responsible for hangovers, and I’ve never had a hangover from eating, blending, or even juicing apples, peaches, pears, etc.

It also does not surprise me to have such toxic substances present in natural whole foods, as many foods are known to have distinct alkaloids and other chemical compounds that can be toxic in large concentrations –such as the arsenic in parsley and other veggies, the oxalic acid in spinach / rhubarb / chard / beet greens / etc., the cyanide within apple seeds, the lactucarium in certain lettuces, etc. I was just reading something by Victoria Boutenko the other day stating an evolutionary theory related to these alkaloids (e.g., that they’re possibly there to help ensure that the plant is not over-harvested — eaten to the point of extinction – by the animal kingdom).  But, hey, who knows for sure why they’re there?

Either way, though, no one’s running around claiming specifically that the chemical ethanol, the precursor to acetyldehyde in your liver, is a health tonic. So, if you avoid it, there’s no negative effect whatsoever, in my opinion.

Of course, some might retort: There might be no negative effect, but what about missing out on any positive effects from drinking? Usually, this argument is accompanied by citing Mediterannean countries where wine consumption and longevity seemingly go hand in hand. But, again, who knows whether it’s the alcohol in all of that red wine, or perhaps simply the grapes themselves?

Do You Drink It?

Short Answer: No.  I know a lot of raw foodies drink wine from time to time, and many of those undoubtedly still have “the glow.”  So, I don’t think it’s anywhere near as harmful (in my view) as, say, meat or dairy.  However, I’m simply not going to get preachy here because, in truth, I don’t think it’s a very big deal whether you drink wine (or anything else) or not. Plus, given my own history (and especially considering those infamous college days), it would seem fairly hypocritical of me to condemn the practice.

I think it’s all just a big journey, and we each have to travel our own path. So, no matter where you are, simply do what you do with conscious intention and you’ll enjoy yourself.  (And that goes for everything, including any food you may eat, cooked or raw.) For me, when it comes to choosing not to drink… I simply enjoy the mental clarity and I enjoy the peace and the experience of fully present emotional awareness. So, I wouldn’t want to cloud that at all. That’s my reason.

(Self-editing kicking in:  If that’s so true, Jim, then why do you eat copious amounts of cacao sometimes? LOL… guilty as charged. But at least I admit it!)

I do absolutely love knowing and interacting with similary minded people, and am rather fanatical in the pursuit of optimal health. But, if someone else drinks, it doesn’t bother me.  It’s just something we all need to decide for ourselves, just like anything else in life.  As Woody Allen might quip: “Whatever Works.”

I do currently still work with a lot of people who drink and have noticed that, after the initial razzing that you get when you’re the only one that doesn’t drink, most people don’t care too much. They already think I’m insane for not eating meat, and for eating raw foods, so it probably doesn’t surprise them to see me with a nice tall glass of water with a lemon slice.

Finally, I wanted to note one other consideration for those who do choose to drink wine. Consider organic and biodynamic wines! These varieties may cost a bit more, but the lack of pesticides and sulfites is at least minimizing your toxicity exposure.

What about you? Do you drink alcohol?

Last time on Raw Foods 101 we answered the question, “Why should you soak nuts / seeds before eating them.”  Naturally, many readers then asked the next logical question, “How LONG should I soak them before eating?” Great question!

Don’t forget:  You’re soaking the nuts and seeds to “wake them up” as would happen in nature. When seeds are soaked in the springtime rain, they wake up and begin to sprout. When this happens, the nutritional content of the nuts and seeds changes (they become an even greater powerhouse of nutrients).

Be sure to soak nuts and seeds in purified water, and thoroughly rinse after soaking.  Below is a basic chart that covers most nuts and seeds. Make sure that you are purchasing raw, unroasted, unsalted nuts and seeds (organic is best, of course). Enjoy!

We have a large list of upcoming topics for the Raw Foods 101 series. However, if there is something specific that you would like us to cover, please let us know in the comments and we’ll be sure to include it in an upcoming post.